President Trump is citing FBI agent Peter Strzok’s recent testimony to Congress to bolster his assertion that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is “rigged” and a “witch hunt” that is hurting the country, ahead of a Monday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Trump said U.S.-Russian relations are hampered by the “witch hunt” and “rigged situation” in the United States, and went on to attack Mr. Strzok as a “disgrace to our country.”
“So when I look at things like that and he led that investigation or whatever you call it, I would say that, yeah, I think it hurts our relationship with Russia,” the president said in an interview with CBS released Sunday. “I actually think it hurts our relationship with a lot of countries. I think it’s a disgrace what’s going on.”
Mr. Strzok, a key figure in the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and who also was part of Mr. Mueller’s team, answered questions from House lawmakers last week on whether anti-Trump bias influenced federal investigators’ work.
In one text message sent in August 2016 to FBI lawyer Lisa Page, with whom Mr. Strzok had an extramarital affair, Mr. Strzok said “we’ll stop it” when Ms. Page asked whether Mr. Trump would become president.
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04.24.2024